ERROR ANALYSIS (A3)

SUMMARY

Idiosyncratic Dialects and Error Analysis

GROUP 8

ARIANI A1B21227

ELISA FREMA CINDY A1B212227

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION

LAMBUNG MANGKURAT UNIVERSITY

2015
Idiosyncratic Dialects and Error Analysis
I. INTRODUCTION
In this article, we will discuss about idiosyncratic and error analysis. Idiosyncratic is the
languages which are not language of social group. It is almost same with idiolect, but in idiolect,
there is not great problem with interpretation. Idiosyncratic dialect talks about the difficulties in
interpretation. Because of that difficulty, the error analysis comes up to the surface to solve the
difficulties. In this article, there will be four classes of idiosyncratic dialect. And then, there are
some stages that are used to do the ‘error analyses.

II. DISCUSSION
A. Idiolect Dialect
An idiolect is a personal dialect but which linguistically has the characteristic that all
rules required to account for it are found somewhere in the set of rules of one or another social
dialect. Also, it can be said to be some sort of a mixture of dialects.

Figure: 1.1

Set of rules of Set of rules of

Dialect C Dialect A

Set of rules of
Set of rules of Dialect B
Dialect X

The diagram shows that idiolect X possesses rules drawn from three overlapping social
dialects but does not possess any rules which are not rules of any one of these dialects. If all
these social dialects are 'included' in a language D then Idiolect X is a dialect of language D in
the conventional sense.
 B. Idiosyncratic Dialect
The characteristic of all idiosyncratic in common is that some of the rules required to
account for them are particular to an individual. So then, because of that reason, their sentences
are not readily interpretable. But, the idiolect do not present the same problems of interpretation
since somewhere there is a member of that social group who shares the conventions with the
speaker.

Normally, idiosyncratic dialects are unstable. The object of speech is normally to

communicate, i.e. to be understood .But then, the usual verification procedures required in the
construction of a projective grammar are not readily available. Also, it is hard to place an
interpretation on some of the sentence of the dialect.

Figure: 1.1

Target Social Dialect

Idiosyncratic Dialect

Source: Corder (1981:15)

C. Classes of Idiosyncratic Dialects

The language of a second language learner is not only type of idiosyncratic dialect. In
‘error analysis’ there are four classes of idiosyncratic dialect, they are the language of poems,
an aphasic, infant learning his mother tongue and the learners of a second language.

1. Poem
In this class, actually the author knows the conventions of the standard dialect but
chooses not to obey them, it can be called as deliberately deviant (cf. Katz, 1964). The author
chooses to use their own language to express what he thinks. It makes the poem become
idiosyncratic. The language of poem is idiosyncratic is evident, if only because of the
difficulty of interpretation. It is significant that Thorne's approach to the analysis of the
language of the poem is essentially that of 'error analysis', a type of bilingual comparison
(Corder, 1981: 16).
 It is containing sequences which resist inclusion in the grammar of English; it might
prove more illuminating to regard it as a sample of a different language, or a different dialect,
from Standard English.

2. An aphasic
This idiosyncratic is unstable dialect, it presents the same problem of interpretation to
the linguist. The speech of aphasic is another such dialect since it is unstable and deviant, on
the presumption that the aphasic was a native speaker of his/her language before aphasia,
and so knew the rules and conventions of his/her language. His/her speech is termed
pathologically deviant.

3. Infant learning his mother tongue

The third class of idiosyncratic dialect is that the infant learning his mother tongue. This
class presents the problem in interpretation. The problem is from the utterance of the child. The
factor of the problem is placing the right interpretation upon child’s utterances. But then, the
idiosyncratic sentences of a child cannot be categorized as deviant, since the child is not yet a
speaker of a social dialect. Also, it is undesirable to call them erroneous as it is to call the
sentences of a child erroneous. Erroneous are those which are result of some failure of
performance. It may contain what are often called slips of the tongue, false starts, changes of
mind, and so on. Hockett (1948) refers to these as lapses. Erroneous sentences do not normally
present problems of interpretation, because the mistake is corrected by the speaker himself.

4. The learners of a second language

Selinker (1969) has proposed the name interlanguage for this class of idiosyncratic
dialect, implying thereby that it is a dialect whose rules share characteristics of two social
dialects whose rules share characteristics of two social dialects or languages. Whether these
languages themselves share rules or not.

An alternative name might be transitional dialect, emphasizing the unstable nature of

such dialects. Idiosyncratic sentences, which involve no failure in performance and which cannot
be corrected by the leaner precisely because they follow the only rules known to him, those of
his transitional dialect. Idiosyncratic rules are not unique to an individual but shared by others
having similar cultural background, aims or linguistic history.
 Can we assume that learners that have the same mother tongue and had the same
experience in learning second language, and had less or more same interlanguage, and different
motivation, intelligence, and attitude follow a similar course of development in acquiring a
second language? This is the function of a syllabus. It is used to map of the route the learners are
to follow.

In this study, error analysis is as the longitudinal study of the infant learning the mother
tongue depends on the analysis of his idiosyncratic sentences (Brown and Frazer, 1964). The
‘error analysis’ methodology is not uniquely applicable to the dialects of second language
learners but is valid for all idiosyncratic dialects.

D. Stages of Error Analysis

The first stage in error analysis is recognition of idiosyncracy. Next, we have a

reconstructed sentence to compare with the original. A reconstructed sentence is, roughly
speaking, what a native speaker of target language would have said to express that meaning in
that context, i.e. it is a translation equivalent.

Is sentence superficically Does the normal Sentenc

In well-formed in terms of yes interpretation yes e is not out
the grammar of the according to the rules idiosync
target language of language make sense ratic
in the context?

no no
Sentence is Sentence is
overtly convertly
idiosyncratic idiosyncratic

Can a plausible Make well- Compare reconstruction

interoretation be formed sentence with original
yes out
put on sentence in reconstruc idiosyncratic sentence. STATE
context? tion of in what respect rules for
sentence accounting for original and
in target reckonstructed sentence
language differ?
 no

Translate Translate L I sentence

Is mother tongue
yes sentence literally yes back into target language
of learner know?
iato L I. is to provide reconstructed
plause=ible sentence
iaterpretation in
no context possible?

Hold
sentence
no
in store

out
There is the problem in making the interpretation is more plausible. The resource can be had to
the mother tongue, if known. The second stage in error analysis is accounting for learner’s
idiosyncratic dialect. The methodology that is used is a bilingual comparison. The third stage
and the ultimate object of error analysis is explanation. The third is psycholinguistic, in as much
as it attempts to account for how and why the learner’s idiosyncratic dialect is of the nature it is.
In this stage, firstly, to elucidate what and how a learner learns when he studies a second
language. Secondly, the applied object of enabling the learner to learn more efficiently by
exploiting our knowledge of his dialect for pedagogical purposes. One explanation is that the
learner is carrying over the habits of the mother tongue into the second language called
interference. The other explanation is that language learning is some sort of data-processing and
hypothesis-forming activity of a cognitive sort. The theory of learning that people hold for
decade was the teacher give the direct observation or statement by the teacher i.e. correction and
example, enable the learner to reformulate a hypothesis more in accordance with the facts of the
target language (cf. Hocket 1948). Theoretically, if the teaching process had been perfect, no
error would have occurred. But then, in alternative view would suggest that making of error is an
inevitable and indeed necessary part of the learning process.
 E. Conclusion
An analysis of idiosyncratic error include four classes of idiosyncratic, they are poem, an
Aphasic, the infant of his mother tongue and the learner of second language. In error analysis we
might discuss about the error of the learner of second language. The error has come from the
process of learning second language, it called interlanguage or transitional language. Then, there
some stages that is used to determine that the sentence of second language learner is
idiosyncratic or not. There are three stages; they are recognition of idiosyncracy, accounting for
learner’s idiosyncratic dialect, and explanation. Theoretically, if the teaching process had been
perfect, no error would have occurred. But then, the necessity of error is inevitable the important
part of learning process. So then, making error is the part that can’t be separated in learning
process.